COVID-19. Coronavirus. It’s all we hear about.  It has ruined our plans…wrecked people’s lives. Weddings, graduations, birthday parties, vacations – they were over before they even started.  Our everyday norms of school and employment were suddenly taken from us. Our lives came to a screeching halt and we are all suffering whiplash because of it.  

After each of our foster kids have returned home, we have taken a break from fostering to allow ourselves to heal emotionally and even recover physically. There are many stressors of foster care that take a toll on both your mind and body. Our plan was to open our home to foster kids again in April, after we took what we determined to be a well-deserved vacation.  

Well, our vacation got snatched out of our grasp much like a child who touches something they aren’t supposed to.  That was a little easier to swallow knowing we joined the ranks of hundreds of thousands of people who had to cancel their Spring Break and Easter getaways. Misery loves company, right?

Unfortunately, our governor’s “safer at home” order had an ill effect on our ability to take foster children.  With both of us considered to be “essential” employees, we still have to work (which I’m definitely not complaining about).  However, we have no school or child care facility to send kids to during the day while we work, so we are stuck wanting and willing to open our home, but without the resources to do so.  

My plans for April were perhaps not as grand as others, but they were important to me. I have not always accepted the consequences of this pandemic gracefully, although I am grateful that my loved ones and I have remained healthy so far.  

It seems that no one really knows when normalcy will resume, so we wait.  The wait seems excruciatingly slow at times. I have complained and griped and moped.  But I have also tried to gain some perspective. With more time on our hands and nowhere to go, the wait allows more time to reflect on what is really important and necessary. 

And as many of us have, we have finished lingering projects at home, mastered Zoom and other forms of video chatting, and become more creative in the kitchen.  I, personally, am embracing the challenge of seeing how long I can wait to go to the grocery store, although Brian doesn’t necessarily share my enthusiasm in that endeavor.  

Regardless, the wait is hard. The wait for normalcy.  The wait to pursue our plans. The wait to resume our activities. 

But what have I gained during this wait?  Rest, contentment, gratitude, and a belief that these things are a gift from God.  

God already knows the outcome and He knows what we need better than we know ourselves.

God is in the wait.